29 Sept 2012, Barcelona, Vienna Phil

Our two weeks in Barcelona have flown by.

And I have some catching up to do in my reporting.

Friday night, Wesley took us to see and to hear the Vienna Philharmonic. The venue was the Palau de la Música Catalana. It is a gorgeous theatre. Jaw-droppingly so. And it is difficult to overstate the joy that washes over you when you approach and enter this theater.

Palau de Musica anticipating the Vienna Philharmonic

We are all familiar with old European theaters. They are formal. Velvet curtained. Gold leafed. With Royal boxes. This theater is not like that, at all. It is like no theater anywhere else on the planet. It is "irrational exuberance" in the form of architecture. Inside and out it is a fantasy of  ceramic and wood and glass and stone, materials manipulated into shapes and forms that seduce the eye. Flowers and horses and murals and mosaic depictions of the muses whose upper torsos burst out of the wall as stone statues with instruments in their hands.

Lighting detail

Ceiling detail

Who would build such a theater? And why so over the top expressive?

The Orfeó Català built it for themselves. A place  to perform Catalan music, specifically, Catalan choral music. Orfeó Català was a choral society. Still in existence, they formed in 1891 as part of the Renaixença, the Catalan Renaissance which celebrated the end of a two-hundred year decline of Catalan culture caused by Phillip V when he outlawed all Catalan expression in 1714. In a burst of Catalan pride, the Orfeó Català decided to erect a shrine to their national music. They raised money and asked architect, Lluis Domènech i Montaner to build a concert hall.

Tapas before the concert

Barcelona in that decade was teeming talent. Antoni Gaudí was sculpting his wavy stone master-piece buildings. Picasso had his first solo show in the city. Joan Miró entered the Fine Arts Academy. And Pablo Casals was an international cello celebrity and a Catalan booster par excellence.  The Palau architect selected from the pool of gifted local artisans. Master makers of ceramic tiles and art glass. And stone carvers, expert in the undulating style of  stone masonry popular in 1900's Barcelona. The end result is more than a pleasure to sit in.  I know it is a lot of superlatives, but come see the Palau and you will understand.

Back to our concert experience. When listening to an orchestra, it is a particular thrill to feel as if you are in the center of it so that when they play full force you feel the force of the vibrations shake your skeleton. Our seats had that feel. We were in the three slender, high, curved rows that are on either side of the organ and are about a dozen feet above the orchestra.

The first half of the program was the second symphony of Johannes Brahms, 1833 to 1897. It was written for the Vienna Philharmonic. They premiered it in 1877. One could say the music of Brahms is in their blood, in their DNA. There were elderly gentlemen in the string section and it is not a stretch to imagine that their grandfathers played in the orchestra during Brahms's lifetime. And maybe even on the same instruments. The Vienna Philharmonic owns all of the string instruments used in it's performances. That is how it retains it's string sound which is say is magnificent. So the first half of the concert was lovely. Did it knock our socks off? No. But let's wait to hear the second half.

Moments later......After intermission they played the fourth symphony by Brahms and it was as if during intermission they practiced or they drank triple expressos. They evolved into super-orchestra. On the edges of their seats they passionately poured their hearts out. Like a school of fish. They turned on a dime. Played like a single organism improvising the symphony for us on the spot. I do not credit the conductor. They played as if eyes closed they knew exactly how to get to their destination. It all sounded inevitable. Like that is the way that symphony has to sound. And maybe they are right. It seemed so to us. We were more than satisfied. Sitting almost snuggled side by side in our tightly placed seats we were in sonic heaven. All was right with the world. Especially so in the second movement where the strings played pizzicato so gently it would soothe a baby in a cradle and the winds played in a delicate whisper of sound that caressed our ears and literally made us feel good all over.

Barcelonetta Beach, Sept 30, 2102

Wes made a great choice. It was a special night out for us.

Life is good. Very good.
Marlow and Wes
29 September 2012
Barcelona
Palau de la Musica Catalana
Vienna Philharmonic